Charlie Magdaleno: Blog

  Having sort of locked myself up in a room, toiling away at the same songs and the same parts over and over by myself, I've lost sight of a great deal of things, particularly pertaining to music.

  Thoughts have become muddy, creativity has run dry, and my playing and singing chops have suffered.  Worst of all, I've been becoming resentful of myself, my music, and my craft.

  Still, I haven't lost total sight yet, and I know what and why I'm doing all this for, and it pushes me onward.

  With this in mind, I've begun scheduling rehearsals with my life-long friend and drummer, Carlos Macias.  Carlos has been in just about every band I've ever been in, and knows me and my music probably better than myself.  He's a young man blessed with incredible talent, incredible heart, and incredible spirit.  He is someone who truly derives a sense of purpose from music and it comes through every time I play with him.

  Anywho, yesterday we finished up our first two sessions in order to prepare for a studio date we have on Sunday.  While they were very successful rehearsals on their own account, there were things that I got from those rehearsals that I don't think I'll ever be able to express or thank Carlos enough for.  Hearing the songs I had written beyond just a voice and a guitar, channeling the synergistic communication from two people who understand each other and work well together, feeling the energy that stemmed from a combination of the sheer volume of the music and in playing it with the emotion and power it was meant to be played with; I was beside myself.  Thanks to Carlos and these two sessions, not more than four hours combined, my love for music has been restored.  My faith in myself and what I want to accomplish has been reaffirmed.  And I have a renewed appreciation and understanding that something as incredible as music cannot, and should not, be envisioned, manifested, shared, experienced, or profited by one person alone.  Myself, and all musicians and music lovers, have a responsibility to reach every single soul we can in order to give them the opportunity to experience what I have over the past two days.

  That's the one thing I hope to offer you when this record is finally finished- that when you hear it for the first time, you feel every bit of love, frustration, resentment and renewal that went into making it.  That you become alive through it.

  And who knows, with guys like Carlos and friends and supporters like you on my side, I think I've got a pretty good shot.

  If you have something, or someone, or someplace you've loved, but have lost that love or lost your bearing on what it's all for- try a new approach.  Change the context, change the meaning, change the players, change the game; change something to give you a new outlook on the things that used to mean the world to you.  Often times, they haven't changed, you have.  Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

  The fact is, it's entirely possible for two people to say the same thing, but not say the same thing.  To see the same thing, but not see the same thing.  To do the same thing, but not do the same thing.  It's entirely possible for two people to live in the same house, but not at all in the same world.  Your point of view is not the only one that exists, and it may not be the one you need right now.

  When you're feeling lost, defeated, frustrated, hurt or scared; don't try to change things that are presently out of your control, and most certainly do NOT give up.  Just remember that sometimes it's not the circumstances that need to change, it's the perspective.